NUS Scotland has today welcomed news of significant progress in pay negotiations and EIS-FELA's decision to suspend planned strike action in colleges as an act of good faith.
Commenting, NUS Scotland President Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan said:
“NUS Scotland welcomes the news of significant progress in pay negotiations for college lecturers, and EIS-FELA’s admirable decision to suspend strike action this week as a result.
In Scotland’s student movement we are clear that we stand in solidarity with all workers in their fight for fair pay and conditions. Without fair compensation for workers Scotland’s education sector and students will never thrive.
We deeply regret any disruption this dispute has caused to the lives and education of Scotland’s college students and therefore hope College Employers Scotland present EIS-FELA with a fair deal in the coming days.
In the last decade, Scotland’s colleges have seen more years with industrial disputes than without, ultimately this is a result of systemic underfunding and real terms funding cuts to colleges year after year. We welcome the Scottish Government’s role in achieving this progress in negotiations but call on them to stop undervaluing colleges and fund them properly in the long term.”
